UK unemployment rising ‘faster than Great Depression’

WASHINGTON DC: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has announced that he will be joined by his "friend" and former US president Barack Obama for the first virtual fundraiser next week. Biden's campaign announced the reunion of Obama and his former vice president for the fundraiser will be a week from Tuesday. In a tweet, Biden, 78, announced that his "former boss" Obama would join him next week.

"Folks, I've got some big news: Next week, I'm getting together with my friend and former boss, President Barack Obama, for a virtual grassroots fundraiser. We would love to see you there," Biden said on Monday.

The tweet came hours after the former vice president announced to have raised USD 80.8 millions in the month of May for his campaign war chest.

"I'm proud to announce that last month - with your support - and the support of so many others - we raised USD 80.8 million, with an average online donation of USD 30 to our campaign," Biden said in an email to his supporters.

"These last few weeks have shown that we are a nation furious at injustice. We feel it in our bones; we see it in our streets. On top of that, COVID-19 is still a threat. We've crossed the mark of over 115,000 deaths - 115,000 people whose lives were cut down too soon," he said.

The event plans to target tens of thousands of small-dollar donors.

In a fundraising email to the campaign, Obama described this as the most important election of the lifetime.

"The most important election of our lifetimes is just around the corner. In November, we have the chance to rebuild our economy so that it works for everyone. We have the chance to cover everybody with health insurance," Obama said.

The former president officially endorsed Biden in April after Senator Bernie Sanders, Biden's last serious competitor, dropped out and threw his support behind the former Delaware senator.

"We have the chance to declare that no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love - all of us are equal and each of us should have the chance to make of our lives what we will," Obama said.

LONDON: The number of people in the UK claiming jobrelated benefits increased by a monthly 23.3% in May to 2.8 million, according to official figures released Tuesday that likely underestimate the toll on the labour market of the Coronavirus lockdown.

The Office for National Statistics said that the socalled claimant count - which includes both people who work on reduced income or hours and those who are actually unemployed - was 125.9% higher than in March, when the country was put into lockdown.

The statistics agency also said the number of people on payroll fell by 2.1%, or 612,000, between March and May. If the public health crisis is just starting to ease, today's figures show that the unemployment crisis is only just beginning," said Tony Wilson, director of the Institute for Employment Studies. Wilson said that unemployment is rising faster than during the Great Depression in the 1930s and is set to top 3 million this summer.

The actual spike in unemployment would have been much higher were it not for the British government's Job Retention Scheme, which has been paying a high proportion of the salaries of nearly 9 million people.

Many companies have held off from cutting jobs during the lockdown as a result of the scheme, under which the government pays up to 80% of the salaries of workers retained, up to 2,500 pounds ( 3,150) a month.

Treasury chief Rishi Sunak has said that from August, firms will have to start making contributions to the salaries of workers that are retained but not working, and that the scheme will close two months later.

That's raised concerns that Britain will see a spike in unemployment then. In total, 8.9 million jobs have been furloughed under the scheme by 1.1 million employers at a cost to the government of 19.6 billion pounds ( 25 billion). Some of those furloughed workers will have returned to their jobs on Monday, as a result of the reopening of nonessential shops in England for the first time in nearly three months.